Control

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 delivers a specific, data-driven experience in Control that is heavily constrained by the graphics card. The benchmark results show a clear pattern where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings, while the CPU provides a stable foundation that allows the system to reach playable frame rates only at lower presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the best frame rate this combo can achieve in Control?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 63.2 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RX 580's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 13559, placing it 0% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13564) and 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 (13549). Its percentile rank among all GPUs is 53, indicating it sits near the middle of the performance distribution.

Q: What is the impact of switching from Low to Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average frame rate drops from 63.2 FPS on Low to 33.5 FPS on Ultra. This represents a significant reduction of 29.7 FPS, or roughly 47% lower performance, when moving to the highest preset.

Q: Is the i5-10400F a strong performer relative to other CPUs?

A: The i5-10400F has a percentile rank of 73 among all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 14168. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7552, scores 14115, which is only 0.4% lower, showing the i5-10400F is competitively positioned in the mid-range.

Q: What memory bandwidth does the RX 580 offer?

A: The RX 580 features a 256-bit memory bus with a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. It uses 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, and the memory clock is listed at 2000 MHz with 8 Gbps effective speed.

Q: How does the system rank among all tested combos for Control?

A: This specific combination of the i5-10400F and RX 580 ranks 1534 out of 1636 total tested combos in the game. This places it in the lower percentile of systems, indicating that most other hardware pairings deliver higher performance.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is the dominant factor in this system's Control performance, and the data emphasizes its memory configuration as a key attribute. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. This memory subsystem is substantial for a card in its class, yet the measured frame rates suggest it is insufficient for the demands of Control at higher presets.

The GPU's clock speeds are a core part of its identity: a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz. These clocks, combined with 2304 shading units, produce a pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s. The compute capability is rated at 6.175 TFLOPS, which is a modest figure for a 14 nm part from the Polaris generation. The GPU's average benchmark score is 13559, and its percentile rank of 53 reflects a mid-pack standing, but the in-game results show that synthetic scores do not translate to high-end performance in this title.

Looking at the measured data, the GPU's limitations become apparent immediately. Even at the lowest resolution and settings (1080p Low), the system only reaches 63.2 FPS. As the settings are increased, the frame rates drop off steeply, with 1080p Ultra yielding just 33.5 FPS. This behavior indicates that the RX 580's raw compute power and memory bandwidth are being saturated by Control's rendering requirements. The architecture, based on GCN 4.0, appears to struggle with the game's visual effects, as evidenced by the fact that the GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks (GTX 570 and GTX 950) are all older, lower-performing cards in practice.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a stark picture of how resolution impacts the system's performance. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 63.2 FPS at 1080p to 49 FPS at 1440p, and then to 34.2 FPS at 4K. This represents a 46% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial loss that clearly points to the GPU as the limiting component.

The scaling pattern becomes even more severe at higher settings. When using High settings, the frame rate falls from 38.3 FPS at 1080p to 28.3 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 18.7 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is particularly brutal, with a reduction of 9.6 FPS, which is a 34% decrease. This non-linear scaling suggests that the RX 580's memory bandwidth is being exhausted as the pixel count increases, causing the GPU to become the absolute bottleneck.

The data implies that the CPU is not the primary constraint in this scenario. The i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, provides ample processing power, as evidenced by its 73rd percentile rank. However, the consistent frame rate drops across all resolution steps indicate that the RX 580 cannot keep up with the increasing workload. At 4K, even Low settings only manage 34.2 FPS, which is far below the playable threshold, and Ultra settings at 4K produce a nearly unplayable 16.5 FPS. The resolution scaling data makes it clear that this combo is best suited for 1080p or possibly 1440p with significant settings compromises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Examining the exact measured frame rates provides a detailed view of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the average FPS values are: 63.2 on Low, 43.9 on Medium, 38.3 on High, and 33.5 on Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is substantial (19.3 FPS), while the gap between Medium and High is smaller (5.6 FPS), and the difference between High and Ultra is 4.8 FPS. This suggests that the performance penalty is not linear, with the most significant cost coming from the initial jump off the Low preset.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values decrease to: 49 on Low, 34.5 on Medium, 28.3 on High, and 25.2 on Ultra. The pattern is similar, with the Low to Medium drop being the largest at 14.5 FPS. Interestingly, the difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is only 3.1 FPS, which is the smallest gap among all settings at this resolution, indicating diminishing returns from the Ultra preset.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: 34.2 on Low, 21.7 on Medium, 18.7 on High, and 16.5 on Ultra. The Low setting is the only one that approaches playability, while all other presets fall below 22 FPS. The Ultra setting at 4K is only 2.2 FPS slower than High, suggesting that the GPU is so overwhelmed that the additional settings have minimal impact on the already-low performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1534 out of 1636 tested combinations places it in the bottom 6% of all systems tested for Control. This is a low ranking that reflects the hardware's inability to deliver high frame rates in this specific title. The RX 580's synthetic benchmark performance, where it ranks in the 53rd percentile, does not translate to strong in-game results, highlighting the game's demanding nature.

The CPU's strong synthetic showing (73rd percentile) does not compensate for the GPU's shortcomings. The i5-10400F's nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks, such as the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% lower score) and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.8% higher score), are a mixed group, but none of them would change the outcome here. The bottleneck is the GPU, and the ranking confirms that this pairing is not competitive for Control. The data shows that users with this combo will need to make significant sacrifices in visual quality to achieve acceptable performance, and even then, the system ranks poorly against other hardware configurations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user's priority for frame rate versus visual fidelity. The only configuration that achieves a stable 60 FPS is 1920x1080 with Low settings, yielding 63.2 FPS. This is the recommended preset for users who want smooth, responsive gameplay, as it is the only one that avoids drops below the 60 FPS threshold.

For users who prefer higher visual quality, 1920x1080 with Medium settings provides a compromise at 43.9 FPS. This is playable, though not ideal, and represents a 30% reduction in frame rate compared to Low. At 1440p, the Low setting is the only viable option, with an average of 49 FPS, which is acceptable but not smooth. All other settings at 1440p and every setting at 4K result in average frame rates below 35 FPS, which is likely to feel choppy and unresponsive.

The data suggests that the "High" and "Ultra" presets are not recommended for this combo, as they provide marginal visual improvements at a substantial performance cost. The difference between Medium and High at 1080p is only 5.6 FPS, but the difference between Low and Medium is 19.3 FPS, indicating that the Low preset is the most efficient use of the GPU's limited resources. For the best experience, users should stick to 1080p and either Low or Medium settings, accepting that this hardware cannot handle higher presets in Control.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F plays a supporting role in this system, providing a stable foundation but not being the limiting factor in Control. The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. This configuration, built on the Comet Lake architecture with a 14 nm process, delivers strong single-thread and multi-thread performance, as shown by its 73rd percentile rank and average benchmark score of 14168.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. This memory configuration, combined with dual-channel DDR4 support and 42.7 GB/s of memory bandwidth, ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU without causing a bottleneck. The benchmark scores support this: the Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 10297, and the single-core score is 1453, indicating a balanced processor.

In the context of Control, the CPU's role is to maintain consistent frame pacing and avoid stutters, which it does effectively. The measured FPS drops are consistent across resolutions, suggesting that the GPU is the sole constraint. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates that stay relatively flat as resolution increases, but the data shows a clear decline, confirming the GPU's dominance. The i5-10400F's performance is more than adequate for this game, and its 12 threads provide headroom for background tasks, but it cannot overcome the RX 580's limitations.